Cafeteria and Food Services

UPMC Montefiore Cafeteria4th floorWeekdays 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.You or your visitor may request that a guest tray be delivered to your room. You will be charged for this service. To place an order, contact your nurse. In addition to traditional patient meals, kosher patient meals are available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To order kosher meals, ask your nurse or call 412-647-8001 and press option 1.

Condition Help

Condition Help was created to increase the safety of patients while in the hospital. It is a resource to call in an emergency or when a patient cannot get the attention of the health care team.

You can call Condition Help for a concern about a noticeable change in the patient’s medical condition that the health care team is not recognizing. You can also call Condition Help for concerns about a breakdown in how care is given or confusion over what care is needed.

Either the patient or a family member may call. Dial 7-3131 to call Condition Help. Give the operator your name, the room number, the patient’s name, and the patient’s concern. The operator will immediately activate Condition Help. This alerts a team of medical professionals to come to the patient’s room to assess the situation.

Discharge Planning

Your nurse will work with you and your family to make your discharge as smooth as possible. Before you are discharged from the hospital, your nurses will review with you any special instructions for your at-home care or medicines.

Clinical social workers can help arrange for discharge to another facility, such as a nursing home or rehabilitation facility. They can help arrange for home nursing care or home health care equipment or supplies, if needed.

You should arrange for a family member or friend to take you home from the hospital. Your attending doctor will decide when you are ready to be discharged. Most attending doctors make the final decision to discharge patients in the morning. If you disagree with your doctor’s decision and wish to appeal the decision, tell your nurse.

Discharge time is usually 11 a.m. or earlier. Check with your nurse for your discharge time.

Gardens

The Spinola Balcony Garden off Unit 3E at UPMC Presbyterian is open to patients and visitors, weather permitting. It is accessible and convenient for patients on heart monitors.

The Blair Crawford Courtyard Garden is off the 7 Main lobby at UPMC Montefiore and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. The garden features flower beds, an outdoor gazebo, and a heated solarium. It is accessible for wheelchairs and hospital beds.

Hearing Assistance

If you have impaired hearing, amplified phone receivers and TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) are available. We also offer printed educational materials, closed-captioned television, and sign language interpreters.

Infection Precautions

To safeguard the health of all patients, our staff uses routine protective measures, such as wearing gloves and other protective clothing, for many aspects of your care. These precautions protect patients and health care staff against many types of infections that are carried in blood and other body fluids.

Many infections are not spread by casual contact. However, contact with an infected person’s body or body fluids can pose a risk if the blood or body fluid enters an opening in the skin, or comes in contact with the skin that lines the eyes, nose, or mouth.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all health care workers take precautions when they come in contact with a patient’s blood or other body fluids. If you have any questions about infection precautions, please ask your nurse.

Language Interpreter

We provide language interpreter services either through volunteer language interpreters (staff and community members) with varying degrees of fluency in certain languages, or access to professional language interpretation services.

Ask your nurse about language interpretation services, or call 412-648-6262 during normal business hours, and 412-647-2345, pager number 6666, after normal business hours.

Organ Donation

UPMC is a part of a national effort to raise awareness about the need for organ and tissue donations. To raise awareness, staff members ask patients who come to the hospital, or their designated family members, if the patient would be willing to serve as an organ or tissue donor.

Some people may have incorrect ideas about the donor program. As health care professionals, we can help answer your questions about organ and tissue donation so you can make an informed decision.

Thousands of people are awaiting organ and tissue transplants. You have the power to save lives and improve the quality of life of those in need of organ and tissue transplants by becoming a donor.

If you have questions about becoming an organ or tissue donor, please ask your doctor or visit the website of the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE).

UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Montefiore are accredited by The Joint Commission. If the patient believes his or her concerns about care or safety have not been addressed by the hospital, the patient may contact The Joint Commission’s Office of Quality Monitoring by phone at 1-800-994-6610, or by email at complaint@jointcomission.org.

Patient Rights and Responsibilities

At UPMC, service to our patients is our top priority. Please take a moment to review our system-wide Patient Rights and Responsibilities adopted to protect the interests and well-being of our patients.

Smoking Policy

To protect our patients, visitors, and staff from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, smoking is not permitted anywhere on UPMC property. All UPMC hospitals, facilities, and grounds, including parking lots and garages, are smoke free.

UPMC has no designated smoking areas. If you choose to smoke, you cannot do so on the UPMC campus.

Special Needs Assistance

UPMC hospitals are designed for easy access by patients and visitors with special needs and/or physical challenges. If you have any concerns, please talk with your nurse or the head nurse on the nursing unit.

Special assistance is available if you have impaired hearing or if your first language is not English.

For help in finding a doctor or health service that suits your needs, call the UPMC Referral Service at 412-647-UPMC (8762) or 1-800-533-UPMC (8762). Select option 1.

UPMC is an equal opportunity employer. UPMC policy prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected group status. Further, UPMC will continue to support and promote equal employment opportunity, human dignity, and racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. This policy applies to admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in UPMC programs and activities. This commitment is made by UPMC in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations.

Medical information made available on UPMC.com is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely entirely on this information for your health care needs. Ask your own doctor or health care provider any specific medical questions that you have. Further, UPMC.com is not a tool to be used in the case of an emergency. If an emergency arises, you should seek appropriate emergency medical services.

For UPMC Mercy Patients: As a Catholic hospital, UPMC Mercy abides by the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, as determined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. As such, UPMC Mercy neither endorses nor provides medical practices and/or procedures that contradict the moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.